The departure of Ollie Watkins and Said Benrahma meant that Brentford had no choice but to invest in replacements of the same calibre. In particular their talisman, Watkins, who bagged 45 goals in his three-year stint for the Bees.
The Exeter-born striker was named the 2019-20 EFL Championship Player of the Year before securing a big money move to Aston Villa. The departure of the Bees’ frontman left big boots to fill.
There was one man who topped the club’s transfer targets as a replacement though – in Ivan Toney.
Arriving from Peterborough off the back of scoring 24 goals in 32 games, the Bees picked up their new talisman for a snip of just £10million. Toney has since fired 16 goals in 20 league games at the time of writing. He’s assisted three times on top of that too, practically being involved in a goal every game.
Toney has had a rollercoaster ride of a career to date. He featured twice for Newcastle United but failed to kick on for the Magpies, learning his trade in the third tier of English football instead with the likes of Shrewsbury Town, Barnsley, Scunthorpe and Wigan. At the age of 24, he seems to have found his feet.
The Englishman’s attacking positioning comes naturally and can finish on both feet. He possesses a striker’s instinct of Premier League calibre. A standout game of his was in a 2-1 win away at Sheffield Wednesday on October 21st. In that match, he perfectly timed a follow-up, after a strike from the edge of the area, before burying the ball low and hard with his so called ‘weaker’ foot. He has the ability to react so sharply to rebounds off the goalkeeper and the woodwork.
His second of the match was of similar quality, if not better. An outswinger came into the box while he was man-marked touch-tight. Despite that, Toney feigned his marker with his double movements before powering a header past Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Cameron Dawson. To cap it off, he even had the audacity to mock Callum Paterson’s celebration after the Wednesday forward’s equaliser.
Toney fits all the boxes for Thomas Frank’s No 9 role. Standing at 6ft 2in, the striker is a threat in the air, yet so good with the ball at his feet. He scored a sublime header at the front post against QPR earlier on this season, when his positioning there enabled him to glance the ball home with power.
And it’s not just from set pieces. Brentford’s style of play is to force the ball wide to their tricky wingers in Bryan Mbeumo, Saman Ghoddos and Sergi Canos in order to deliver balls into the box. Their mixed bag of crosses isn’t a problem for Toney as he is so mobile in the area.
He’s a team player too. He knows when to play off the shoulder of the last man but also acknowledges when to come short into pockets to receive the ball, or even do the dirty work.
If he continues getting on to the end of crosses in the box and chipping in with assists week in week out then it’s inevitable Toney will feature in the top-flight – whether it’s with Brentford or not. The sky is the limit for this goalscorer.
By Ben Haywood
